(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of detecting bioluminescent emissions and more particularly to a bioluminescence detection device in which a voltage wave train is supplied to one or more of a plurality of transducers of an acoustical pulse generation system. The transducer generates acoustical energy thereby stimulating aquatic organisms to bioluminescence in the object field of an optical system which in turn records the number of photons received for the duration of the acoustical stimulus.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Bioluminescence is a visible light produced either intermittingly or continuously by numerous aquatic organisms. Many marine dinoflagellate species are able to produce bioluminescence as part of their daily physiological processes. Similarily, some marine bacteria are also bioluminescent. Since various toxicants are known to reduce the light intensity output of bioluminescent bacterial cultures, the bacteria have been used as test organisms to detect the toxicity of atmospheric samples, herbicides and some chemicals.
In order to effectively detect bioluminescence, various optical instrumentation has been developed to provide data which can correlate with organism distribution patterns. Instrumentation which measures stimulated bioluminescence provides a substantial utility for rapid profiling of aquatic organisms.
In Copeland et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,572), a system for measuring the toxicity levels of a solution is disclosed. In the cited reference, a stress generator in a sample container generates pressure pulses which stimulate an organism to generate measurable light emissions. A light detection system generates an electric pulse in response to each detected light emission. A controller enables the stress generating system and the light detection system, and then counts the electric pulses within a predetermined period of time in order to produce measurable points for toxicity.
An improvement to the known art of acoustically stimulating bioluminescent organisms is providing a bioluminescence detection device in which the detection device may be fielded in-situ (where the sample volume is in the open ocean) by which water can flow freely through a volume thus allowing for measurement of a continuously changing sample. Using acoustic generation would stimulate bioluminescent organisms without damaging the organisms and would allow a consistent stimulus. By allowing for in-situ measurement, a more realistic observation of the behavior of bioluminescent organisms is attainable than by the use of present controlled and enclosed measurement devices.